Rebirth of Love
by Nickeltjuh
Summary: What would have happened if Emily had told Hal about Jenn's baby?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Emily held back and tried to stay out of Hal's way as much as she could. She knew how much it was killing him to see his daughter in so much pain and the last thing he needed right now was seeing her while he was still really angry at her.

She would never admit it, but seeing him in so much pain hurt her more then it should for a woman who left him and moved on with someone else. She stared at the picture of the two of them in her wallet and ran her finger over it.

She hadn't told anyone else she had kept the picture. She actualy told Paul she got rid of it, but the truth was, she couldn't do it. She couldn't throw away the picture of her husband, because she wasn't ready to let go of him yet.

She looked up when she heard someone come up to her and quickly put the picture away when she saw Paul coming her way.

"Hey" he said and handed her a cup of coffee. She plastered a fake smile on her face and accepted the coffee from him. "I just came back from Jennifer and she wants to talk to you"

Emily looked at him in shock and her smile dissapeared. "That's not funny Paul, you know how much I care about your sister"

"I'm serious" He said, noticing how Emily had distanced herself from him ever since they ran into Hal earlier.

She got up and took another sip from her coffee. Paul stood behind her and she turned to him.

"Why would your sister wanna talk to me? She has never wanted to talk to me ever since she came back to Oakdale and now that Hal and I are getting a divorce, there is absolutely no reason what so ever for her to suddenly wanna talk to me"

"Look, I don't know why she wants to talk to you okay, she just does" Paul was getting irritated about her turning away from him and he wasn't subtle enough to not let her notice.

"Fine, I'll go talk to her!" Emily said and walked away without so much as a second glance.

When she got to Jennifer's room, Hal was talking to Barbara. Emily couldn't stop the quick pang of jealousy and pain that hit her when she saw them together.

She straightend up and walked up to them. "What the hell are you doing here?" Barbara asked her angry.

"Your daughter asked to talk to me" Emily answered, not once taking her eyes off Hal. If she looked closely, she could see the same look of longing in his eyes that she was sure were in hers.

But before she had time to talk to him, Barbara started off on one of her temper tantrums, causing Emily to look away from Hal and focuse her attention on Barbara.

"There is NO way my daughter would EVER want to talk to you. You're nothing but a slut who left her father for her brother and if you think she will ever talk to you again then you are completely insane!"

While Hal stood listening to Barbara, he really wanted to step in and tell her to back off and leave his wife alone, but he had to accept that Emily didn't want him anymore, wich meant that she probably didn't want him coming to her rescue every time.

He had just decided to let Emily fight her own battles from now on, when Barbara raised her hand to Emily. That's when he stepped in and grabbed her hand. "Don't you dare hit my wife!" He said, surprising not only himself and Barbara, but most of all Emily.

She turned to him in shock and was just about to say something, when Jennifer came out of her room, attrachted to all the noice going on outside her room.

"Mom, what's going on? Why are you yelling at Emily? And dad, why are you grabbing her arm?" Jenn asked surprised.

Hal walked up to his daughter and put his arm around her shoulder. "Your mom got upset with Emily, because she said that you wanted to talk to her and she didn't really believe that. I stepped in when your mom was about to hit Emily. I'm sorry you had to witness that" He said, squeezing her shoulder.

"No, it's okay. I actually did wanna talk to Emily for a bit, if that's okay with you?" She asked Hal. She wanted to talk to Emily, but if her father wasn't okay with that then she wouldn't. Her father was the most important thing to her right now and even though she hadn't really been showing it since she came back to oakdale, she would never do anything to hurt him.

Emily was surprised that Jenn actually wanted to talk to her and the way she felt was obvious to Jenn and everyone else.

"Well, don't just stand there, get in here" Jenn joked, trying to lighten to obviously tense situation they all found themselves in.

Emily threw a triumphant smile at Barbara, turned around and followed Jenn inside her room.

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Emily stood by the door and looked around. Jennifer's room was decorated with balloons and flowers and stuffed animals were all around her. She loved this family so much and it killed her to not be a part of it anymore.

"Emily will you sit down" Jennifer said indicating to the chair right next to her bed. "Just because you and my dad are seperated, doesn't mean I'll bite"

Emily looked around the room again and finally sat down. "I'm sorry" she said, out of the blue.

"Sorry? For what" Jenn was confused. Why was Emily apologizing? She didn't have anything to do with her losing her baby and nothing else mayor had been going on that she knew of.

"For this whole mess between my and your dad. This can't be easy for you on top of everything else" Emily kept fidgeting with her hands, trying to avoide the dissapointed and angry look in Jennifer's eyes.

When she finally did look up, she saw neither of those things. Instead, she saw confusion and a desire to understand.

She took a deep breath and tried to explain what had been going on in her life lately. If she was really honest with herself, it wasn't just to make Jenn understand, it was to make herself understand the whole mess as well.

"Your dad and I have been drifting apart lately" she said, trying to choose the right words to describe it. "Look, I know I told your dad and everyone else that this all started because he was never home, but the truth is... it started way before that"

Jenn looked confused. She never noticed any problems in her father's marriage before. Ofcourse, she hadn't really been as involved in his life as she should have been, but still...

"I know I haven't been as closely involved in your lives like I used to be before I left for Europe, but I know you guys and I know you love eachother"

Before Emily could interupt, Jennifer went on "Look, when I was a mess over what happened between me and Billy, you were right there to help me and I clearly remember you telling me all the right things. I know things must be a little diffirent when it's you, but you have always known just what to do and you'll do it now"

It wasn't exactly what Jennifer had first intended to say, but telling her stepmother that she was crazy for sleeping with her brother and walking out on her husband was not what Emily needed to hear.

She really felt a burning desire to tell Emily exactly what was on her mind, but she also knew her well enough to know that that wasn't going to have the effect she wanted her words to have,

Emily looked at her stepdaughter and smiled. "I miss these talks we used to have" She said, thinking back to the times when she and Jenn would talk for hours about what Jenn was feeling.

After Barbara left and Emily started coming by more often en eventually moved in, she had always been there for Jenn and she had never forgotten that.

"Me too"Jenn said "But we shouldn't have too miss them. We both live in Oakdale for God's sake, what's stopping us from having these talks more often?"

Emily laughed and a smile formed on her face. "I don't know. I geuss I just wasn't sure that you really feel the same way about me that you did"

"Why wouldn't I? Just because you and my dad are having some problems doesn't mean I don't love you anymore"

Tears formed in Emily's eyes as she heard Jenn tell her she loved her.

"I love you too sweetie, I always have" She got up and gave Jenn a hug.

When she pulled back, she whiped the tears off off Jenn's face as well as her own and sat back down in the chair.

Jennifer gigled and Emily looked at her with confusion.

"What is it?" She said, curious.

"Nothing I was just thinking. Do you remember your first date with my dad?"

"How could I forget" Emily said, unconciously smiling at the memory.

"When I woke up the next morning and found my dad glueing back together a shoe, I thought he had lost his mind. But he told me that he had a very interesting evening the night before and that he realized something"

"What was that?"

"He said he was gonna help you realize how much fun you could have while being a nice girl"

"He said that?!" Em said, half angry and half amused.

"Yeah, said you stirred up something deep within him that hadn't been there for a while"

"Probably a feeling of repulsion" Emily said sarcastic.

"You know that's not true Em. And you know what else? That having fun while being a nice girl thing... it totally works for you"

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

When Paul entered his sisters hospitalroom 30 minutes later, she and Emily were still talking.

"Hey, how are my two favourite girls" He asked, giving Emily a kiss.

She tried to hide the unhappy look in her eyes, but Jenn saw it and knew exactly why.

Spending all this time with Jenn had reminded Emily exactly of what her life as mrs. Munson had been like.

Compared to Hal, Paul was nothing. He didn't shower her with complements, he was constantly involved with Rosanna and he never made her feel the way Hal did.

With Hal, she felt safe and loved. She felt like they could get through anything together and she felt on top of the world while being his wife.

With Paul, she always came second to Rosanna, she didn't feel on top of the world and she sure as hell didn't feel loved.

She planted a fake smile on her face and turned to Paul. "Did you need something?"

"As a matter of fact I do. I was just talking to Hal outside and he wanted to know if you could come by the house sometime today and help him with rearanging some stuff"

"Sure, I geuss I can do that. I'm gonna have to cancel my dentist appointment, but..."

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to or if it's too much trouble"

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked surprised. "Ofcourse I do, you just said Hal asked if I could help him"

"Yeah, so, who cares about what Hal wants?"

Before Jenn even had time to speak up in defense of her father, Emily already yelled "I do!" Shocking Paul and Jennifer, but surprisingly, not herself.

She turned to Paul and said "paul, could you give me a few more minutes alone with your sister?"

He quietly left the room and shut the door behind him .

"Jenn, remember how you mentioned that I really helped you out when you slept with Billy and didn't know what to do? Well, the roles are reversed, I need your help right now" She took a deep breath and finally said what she had been thinking for a while now. "I miss your dad"

Jennifer smiled. "Well yeah, it's about time you finally admitted it"

At Emily's confused look, Jennifer had to laugh.

"I'm sorry,. But it was pretty obvious to me that you missed him. Now I geuss the question is: what are you gonna do about it?"

"What am I gonna do about it? What can I do about it? Your dad hates me after doing this to him again after Chris"

"My dad doesn't hate you, Em, he could never hate you. He loves you, that's the reason he's so mad at Paul all the time. He hates the fact that the guy he once thought of as his son is now sleeping with his wife, the woman he loves more then anything"

Emily took a deep breath and slowly released it.

"I geuss the first thing I gotta do is talk to Paul. Not that I think he is gonna care any at all, but still..."

"He never got over Rosanna and you never got over my dad. You were both just to stubborn to see it"

"Yeah, I geuss you could say that. I geuss I also need to get a reservation at the Lakeview before Daniel gets home from camp"

"How is Daniel doing? I need to spend more time with you guys, I miss you and I feel really out of your life"

"Well, Daniel comes home from camp in two days. I could swing by here so you can spend some time with him. I know he'd love to spend some time with his big sister"

"Could you? I'd love to spend some time with him too"

"Sure. Why don't I come by around noon? I could bring lunch from Al's?"

"It's a date. Now, now that we got that settled. What do you plan on doing about getting your marriage back on track?!"

"There's nothing I can do. Your dad said he already filed for divorce papers. I geuss I just have to except the fact that my marriage is over and try to move on"

"You most certainly will do no such thing" Emily turned around to see carly standing by the door.

"You will fight for your marriage if it's the last thing you'll ever do"

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

"Carly….." Emily started, but Carly quickly cut her off.

"Come on Em, you've never been one to give up without a fight, why start now?"

"Because it seems to be what hal wants" Emily said, not being able to come up a good answer.

"So" Carly argued, while sitting down in one of the chairs. "Since when has Hal always wanted what was best for him? I mean... he married me for Gods sake and that wasn't exactly best for either one of us was it?"

"I know, but..."

"No buts! Come on, where's that fighter spirit I know you have? You used to be like a pittbul when you wanted something bad enough, what happened to that? Look..." Carly said in a softer voice "do you remember when I slept with Mike the night before my wedding to Jack?"

Emily nodded and turned to look at Jenn who didn't seem the least bit surprised and had apperently already heard about this before.

"Yeah, I told you to fight for your man" She said, realizing what Carly was getting at.

"Exactly! You told me that no matter what happened between us, Jack still loved me and I still loved him. You told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and fight for my man"

"She took your advice and look at her now? She's still married to the love of her life and they have a beautiful little girl together" Jenn mixed into the conversation.

"So what you're basically saying is stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight for your man?"

"Yeah!" Carly and Jennifer both said in unison.

Emily couldn't help but laugh. She was really blessed to have such amazing friends who would tell her the truth when she needed it.

"The first thing I am going to do now is talk to Paul" she said, getting up.

She didn't have to look for him far, because as soon as she left Jennifer's room, he came walking up to her. He tried to kiss her, but she quickly deverted her head so his lips ended on her cheek.

"I need to talk to you" she said, after seeing the confused look on his face.

They both sat down and he look at her with anticipation.

"This isn't working" She said, confusing Paul even more.

"Okay, well, I geuss we can go back to my place and talk there if that would be better"

"No! THIS isn't working" she said gesturing her hands between the two of them. "The fact that you just called it your place instead of our place or home only adds to that"

"What do you mean it's not working? I thought you were the one that said that even though we didn't love eachother we could still be together and live together"

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking when I said that" Emily admitted. "Look, I really love Hal and I want to try and see if can still make our marriage work, because I know that I'm misserable without my husband and I am hoping he feels the same way about me"

Paul looked at her and tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, still a little surprised. He hadn't expected this from Emily. He had expected her to stay with him no matter what, even though he didn't care about her.

"Yes, I'm sure. Look..." she said, turning towards him. "You and I never would have happend in the first place if you hadn't gotten hurt by Rosanna and I hadn't gotten hurt by Hal. You needed someone to replace your ex-wife and I needed someone to replace my husband. And the truth is, it doesn't work that way. I need to go talk to Hal, because I wanna tell him all that has been bothering me and beg him to give me another chance"

She got up, but turned back to him one last time before leaving and said "You need to go talk to Rosanna, because something tells me that you two belong together"

With that, she turned around and left Paul alone with his thoughts.

When she was out of hearing range of him, she grabbed her phone and dialed 'Home'. She knew she had no right to still call it that, but it was her home.

She had lived in a lot of diffirent places, but she had never found a place to really call home or that felt like home untill she had moved in with Hal and his kids.

After 3 rings, Parker picked up. "Hello" He brightly said.

"Hey sweetie, it's Emily. Is your daddy there?"

She heard some mummbling, then some shuffeling and then Hal's voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me" she said, feeling somewhat stupid for having to call before stopping by.

"Hey" Hal had to remind himself to sound non-challant, because whenever he heard her voice, he felt like breaking into a smile.

"Paul said you wanted my help with something?" She said, hoping Hal wouldn't think the wrong thing when he heard her mention Paul's name.

"Yeah, Parker is finally moving to Jenn's old room and he says you're the only one that knows what colour paint he wants his walls to be.

Emily couldn't help but laugh. She and Parker had seen a new shiny, bright yellow sportscar once on their way to Carly and Jack and even though Emily was still convinced that Parker had been more impressed by the car itself then by the colour of it, Parker was 100 percent sure that that was the colour his new room would be.

"What is it?" Hal asked when he heard Emily laughing. "It can't be that bad"

At that, Emily couldn't stop herself from laughing again. "Have you ever looked directly into the sun?" She asked him.

Hal's groan was all she needed to answer her question and she couldn't help the smile that formed on her face.

"Do you think you could come by and help me try to convince him to choose another colour? Because he won't pick ANY colour untill you come by to tell me exactly what colour he originally wanted"

"Sure, when do you want me there?" She asked, grabbing her car keys and heading towards the exit.

"Are you busy now?" Hal asked, after stopping himself from answering her question with 'forever'

"Nope, in fact, I just came from visiting Jenn"

"You were there this entire time?" Hal asked surprised. He hadn't noticed any form of friendship or bonding between his wife and his daughter since Jenn moved back to Oakdale, but apparently he was wrong.

"Yeah, we had a lot of things to discuss" Emily said, while getting in her car and closing the door. "I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure" With that he put down the phone and turned to Parker. "there, are you happy now, she's on her way over"

Parker just stood there and smiled at his dad. My mom will be so proud of me when I tell her what I did, he thought happily.

To Be Continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

When Emily got to the house, Hal was waiting for her outside. "Ha, you're here!" He exclaimed and jumped up.

"What did he do, kick you out of your own house?' She joked with him.

"You would be surprised at how you right you were" Hal said, opening the door and letting her inside first.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Parker came bouncing down the stairs.

"Okay, you two have fun. I'm gonna go watch some tv" Hal said, turning around and starting towards the living room.

"Daddy!" "Hal!" Parker and Emily both yelled at the same time.

"Don't you dare leave me alone in this paint colour mess Hal Munson" Emily warned him. "You are coming with us to the painshop and you will help me convince him to choose another colour or I will force you to walked into that room every morning when you wake up!"

As soon as she realized what she had said, her cheeks turned bright right. She janked the door open and stormed outside, not even bothering to see if Hal or Parker were following her.

Parker looked at his dad confused. "Emily is a little confused right now" Hal explained to his son. The truth was, so was he, but he decided not to share that with anyone for now. He followed Parker outside and they got into the car.

When they arrived at the paintshop, Parker looked around him like he was in heaven.

"I want that colour" he said pointing to the left. "No, that colour!" He repeated, but this time looking to the right.

"So much for having to put up a fight about what colour he wanted" Emily smiled.

Hal looked at her from the side and apologized. "I'm sorry. If I had known it would be this easy to change his mind, I never would have bothered you"

"You didn't bother me" Emily tried to reasure him.

"But I'm sure you and Paul had other plans" He had to stop himself from making a snarky comment everytime he mentioned Paul, because it would start an argument again and he and Emily had been fighting enough lately.

"Paul and I don't have any plans. Not today, not tomorrow and probably not ever"

Hal looked surprised. "You and Paul are over?" 'That was fast' he thought to himself.

"Yeah. Paul and I never should have gotten together in the first place. But he was missing Rosanna and I was missing you and we turned to eachother" She decided to keep the fact that she still missed Hal while being with Paul to herself.

Instead of saying 'I told you so' Hal smiled at her and said "I'm sorry" He knew that any other guy or specifically husband would have probably rubbed her face in the situation, but he also knew Emily well enough to know that what she needed at this moment was a friend with a listening ear and not an angry husband.

"It's not your fault. If it's anybody's fault it's mine" She said and smiled when she saw the happy look on Parkers face while they walked past all the diffirent colours of paint.

"Why does all the blame always fall down on you? I know I wasn't exactly the perfect husband and although that still doesn't give ground for cheating, it did contribute. And what about Paul, he isn't blaimless either, not by a long shot"

When Emily turned to him with a sad and confused look, he tried to explain.

"What I mean is, Paul never should've gotten together with you just to take his mind off of Rosanna anymore then you should have done the same to replace me. He should have worked through his problems with Rosanna himself. And I know you guys have a whole history together, but that's just what it is, history!"

"I know" Emily interupted him. "I kept telling myself that. We have all this history and we've been together before, but that was just a poor excuse. Paul has been in Oakdale for years now and we didn't even spend any time together when he was engaged to one of my best friends, let alone after that"

They stopped when they reached the end of the isle and smiled at eachother ackwardly.

"I geuss we have to go find this little guy some paint" Emily said, putting her hands on Parkers shoulders.

Just before she could walk away, Hal took her elbow and stopped her. "I really meant what I said, I'm sorry"

She smiled and followed Parker to whatever colour it was his eyes had spotted first.

When they had looked through about half of the diffirent colours of paint they had in the store, Hal and Parker had finally decided on a mix of yellow and orange colours.

Parker still clung to the idea of yellow and Hal had suggested orange and that they could give the room of theme of building trucks and sand, wich Parker had loved ever since Mike had come to town.

After getting all the paint they needed, they drove to the toy store to get new stuff for his room.

The first thing Parker saw when he entered the store was a sandbox. Emily noticed where he was going before Hal did and smiled. She knew Hal would have a really difficult time trying to convince Parker that a sandbox was not something for inside and she was looking forward to watching him try.

Hal looked at Emily from the side and when he saw the smile form on her face, he followed her eyes to where she was looking.

When he noticed the huge smile on Parkers face while looking at the sandbox, he turned to Emily and pointed a finger at her, while mouthing the words "I'll get you for this later".

She just smiled at him and watched him try to explain to Parker why he could not have a sandbox in his room.

After he finally agreed to at least let Parker have the sandbox in the backyard, they walked back to where Emily was standing.

In an unguarded moment, she felt herself being lifted of the ground and deposited into the sandbox.

She screamed when she felt a handfull of sand slide down the back of her shirt. When she saw Parker crying out with delight and looking at his dad with a proud look, she knew exactly who had been responsible for the raspy feeling she now had on her back.

She jumped up and immediatly pushed Hal down in the sandbox. Her plan failed though when she felt herself falling down again and landing on Hal's chest.

When she looked up, she immediatly noticed the close proximity of their faces. Her eyes traveled lower untill they landed on his lips.

Before he had time to react to what was happening, Emily had already jumped up and was halfway to the exit when he caught up to her.

"Don't you dare leave again..."

To Be Continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Don't you dare leave again" Hal said, still holding on to her arm. "You can't just get up and leave everytime things are ackward or not going the way you want them to"

"That's not what I'm doing!" She said, not only trying to convince him, but herself as well.

"Oh no, then why are you leaving?" Before she had time to answer him, he quickly went on. "Look, I know this is probably weird, being her with me and Parker after there was talk of getting a divorce, but it would really mean a lot to both of us if you could stay and help us decorate his new room. Wouldn't it buddy?"

Parker nodded his head like crazy and lifted his arms up, signalling to Emily to pick him up. "Emily help" he said and clapped his hands together.

She picked him up and looked at Hal. "Don't look at me like that, I didn't do anything" He said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Fine" she gave in "But... I will come by first thing tomorrow morning, because right now I have to go see your mommy about something" she said, talking to Parker now.

She kissed his cheek and laughed when he flung his arms around her neck and gave her a hug before she could put him down again.

"I'll see you tomorrow" she told Hal, before making an exit that still looked like an escape to him. He looked at Parker and smiled "Lets get you some stuff for your new room"

While Parker and Hal looked for new stuff for in his room, Emily quickly called Carly.

"Ah, you're home" She breathed a sigh of relief when Carly picked up. "Yeah, I'm home. What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to you. I'll be right there okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she disconnected the phone and drove the car to Milltown.

When she got there, Carly and Sage were already waiting for her outside. The weather was beautiful, so when Emily arrived, they stayed out on the porch instead of going back inside.

"What's up?" Carly asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I almost kissed him!" She said as she practically fell down on the bench next to Carly.

"Almost kissed who? Don't tell me you tried to kiss Paul again after you said you'd go talk to him and break it off between you two"

"What?" Emily said confused. "No, Hal! I almost kissed Hal! He asked me for help with decorating Parker's new room, so we went to the paintshop and we finally had a normal talk without one of us getting angry. We talked about my relationship with Paul and how there no longer was one"

"So you did break it off?" Carly asked relieved.

"Yes, I broke it off and Hal didn't even gloat. He just smiled at me with those Cuddlebear eyes and said he was sorry and you know what? He seemed to really mean it. Any other guy would have probably gloated and said 'I told you so' but Hal didn't. He genuinly felt sorry for me"

She turned to Carly and sighed. "God, I love that man!"

"Well, that comes in very handy" Carly said with a big smile on her face "Because, let me tell you, he loves you too"

While Emily and Carly talked about all that had happened between Emily and Hal at the paintshop, Hal was telling Jack the exact same thing.

"I'm telling you man, if she hadn't jumped up, I definetly would have kissed her"

Jack looked at Hal and took a deep breath to calm himself down. After all Emily had put him through, Jack was pretty convinced that the only solution for both of them would be a divorce, but the way Hal talked about her just now, made him doubt that feeling.

"So, you're telling me that in the few hours you spent together, you have gone from wanting to get a divorce because she's never hurt you like this before to wanting to kiss her and never let her leave your life again?"

Hal thought about it for a few seconds and said "Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. Come on Jack! You're my best friend, you know how I feel about Emily. And you and I both know that I never would have gotten this divorce in the first place if it weren't for my pride"

"Probably, but come on Hal, she cheated on you. I think you have the right to be angry and too proud to forgive her. And it's not like she was all that willing to beg you for forgiveness or another chance like she was the last time this happened. And speaking about that last time..."

Before Jack had a chance to go on, Hal interupted him. "You know, you're not really helping. I know Emily made a lot of mistakes, but the last time with Chris has nothing to do with this"

Hal knew that Emily made a lot of mistakes, but he still loved her and he still had the need to defend her.

"Look, I know you're trying to look out for my best interest, but what I need more then anything right now is to have a normal talk with my wife so we can finally tell eachother how we really feel"

With that in mind, he picked up the phone and dialed the cellphone number he knew by heart.

To Be Continued...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

"Hello?" Emily answered the phone and Carly quickly noticed the look of shock coming over her friends face.

In the mean time at the police station, Jack was closely watching his best friend while he was talking to his wife.

The look of love and hapiness was undeniable and Jack's feelings about Hal divorcing Emily were quickly disolving and making room for understanding.

Jack knew what it was like to love someone so completely that you forgot all the rotten things they had ever done. That's what he had with Carly.

He looked back at Hal and noticed that he had moved back in his chair and was casually talking to Emily.

"Come on, you know it's true. I made a huge fool out of myself when I first proposed to you. I used flowers from our own garden for God's sake"

Several officers in the precint looked in his direction and tried to stiffle their laughter.

Hal looked back at them and shot them a look that said 'Get to work!' When he heard Emily's voice again, he quickly focused back on the conversation.

"Sorry, what did you just say?" He apologized.

"Am I boring you Munson?" Emily teased, a smile gracing her face.

Carly was doing her best to make it look like she wasn't listening to the conversation, but she couldn't help herself.

These were two of her best friends and she wanted nothing more then for them to find happiness together. Especially since they looked anything but happy when they were apart.

When she heard Emily end her conversation with Hal, she stopped her own musings and focused her attention on Emily again.

She shot a questioning look towards her friend and smiled. "Fond memories?" she asked, knowing full well that they were.

"Very, I can't believe I was ever stupid enough to let him go for Paul"

"Neither could any of your friends" Carly said. She wasn't just talking about hersel, she was talking about Jack as well and Jennifer, Will, Tom and Margo. Even Susan and Alison never thought that Emily would ever leave Hal.

Emily knew what Carly meant. Getting together with Paul and hurting Hal in the process was something that they never thought she'd do. It was something she herself never thought she'd do, but despite of that, she'd still done it. She'd still gotten together with Paul and in the process, had hurt the only man she ever really loved.

She took a deep breath and tried to fight the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. "I'm such an idiot. I had the most wonderful and understanding husband in the whole world and I threw it all away. I don't deserve his love, I never did!"

"Ofcourse you do" Carly tried to reassure her. "You're not with Paul anymore are you?"

Emily hesitantly shook her head and whiped the tears from her face.

"There you go!" Carly exclaimed. "You made a mistake, we all make mistakes. God knows I've made enough" she said, causing Emily to smile through her tears.

"Feel better now?" Carly asked hopefull.

"No, I don't. Just because you made mistakes and Jack took you back and forgave you, doesn't mean you actually deserve him"

When she saw the slightly hurt look on Carly's face, she got up and grabbed her purse.

"I'm sorry" She apologized. "I've gotta go"

Without giving Carly a chance to react, she was gone and off to her car.

Carly quickly got up and tried to stop her. "Emily! Emily wait!"

When she saw her speed away in her car, she sighed in defeat and quickly picked up Sage. "Come on sweetheart, we're gonna go call your uncle Hal"

To Be Continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Hal and Parker were sitting at the table in the kitchen, patiently waiting for Emily to arrive so they could get started.

It was already 30 minutes after the time Emily said she'd be there and Hal was constantly checking his watch.

He remembered the call he got from Carly yesterday.

"She was really upset yesterday, repeating over and over again how she hurt you and how she doesn't and never did deserve your love. I just thought you should know, because the state she was in just now, it wouldn't surprise me if she didn't show up tomorrow morning"

He had tried to convince Carly that Emily would show up and things would be fine, but now he knew she had been right. Whatever guilt Emily had placed upon herself was weighing on her and it was keeping her from trusting him and trusting their love.

He glanced at his watch one last time and made a decision.

"Go get your coat Parker, you're gonna go stay with your mommy for a little while"

Parker immediately did what his father asked and Hal grabbed the phone. Dialing her cellphone number, he held his breath and released it when he heard it ring and not go straight to voicemail.

His relief quickly fadded however, when the phone kept ringing and eventually did go to voicemail.

'Come on Munson. You remember what Carly said. If she does't show up here because she thinks she's not worthy of you, she's not gonna pick up the phone. You're gonna have to go see her yourself'

Parker entered the kitchen with his coat already on and looked at his dad a little insecure.

"Daddy? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine buddy" Hal tried to reassure his son. "I'm just going to go look for Emily so she can help us with your room. I know how much she wanted to help"

That seemed to satisfy Parker and he immediately opened the door and ran to the car.

"Will you come pick me up when you find Emily?" He said, bouncing in his seat.

"You bet I will. I'm gonna go find Emily and then we're gonna come pick you up together and we're gonna make you the coolest looking room you have ever seen"

Parkers face lit up and Hal hoped that he could do the same to Emily when he found her.

Their day together yesterday had reminded him of exactly how much he loved and missed her smile and pretty much everything about her and he was not about to give it up again, because she was too insecure to believe in them.

Ariving at Carly's, the front door immediately opened and Carly came out. "Hal?" What are you doing here?"

Was it his imagination or did she look nervous? 'Nah, it's Carly, why would she be nervous when I'm around?'

He shook of the thought and helped Parker out of the car. "Could you watch him for a while? I need to go find Emily"

"Find her where? What happened?" Carly asked him, taking Parker by the hand.

"You were right about her not showing up. I have to find her and convince her that she's wrong and that we can get through whatever is bothering her together"

Hal got in the car again and promised Parker he'd come pick him up as soon as he found Emily. Then he quickly steered the car towards Susan's.

When he got there, he didn't see Emily's car, but he got out and knocked on the door anyway. Just because her car wasn't there, didn't mean she wasn't.

It took a few minutes, but finally Susan opened the door and was surprised to Hal standing there.

"Hal? What are you doing here?"

"Is Emily here?" Hal asked, not wasting any time with small talk.

"Emily? Why would she be here? I think you'd have more luck finding her at Paul's place" While saying it, she couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face.

Hal smiled because of it, but didn't really take too much time to think about it.

He was already starting towards the car, but quickly yelled "Emily broke up with Paul" to Susan and was gone before he could see the huge smile forming on her face.

Hal quickly got in the car again and started towards the penthouse. He knew he shouldn't even think she could be there, but his insecurity won over and he also knew he shouldn't just assume she wasn't there because it was always an option.

When he arrived, he didn't even bother to wait for the elevator and quickly dashed up the stairs.

Knocking on the door, he waited for Paul to open. He knocked agian and started to get impatient. Just as he was going to knock again, the door opened to reveal Paul.

"Hal? What the hell do you think you're doing here this early?"

"Is Emily here?" He immediately asked and looked around the penthouse.

"No she's not, she broke up with me as you very well know. What did you come here to do? Gloat?"

"Look Paul, I know that things between us have been bad. Horrible actually, but this isn't about you and it's not about me either. This is about Emily and right now I really have to find her"

"I haven't seen her" Paul said and closed the door.

Hal leaned back against the door and took a deep breath.

"Think Munson, where else could she be?" he asked himself out loud, while starting towards the car again.

Suddenly he remembered how he thought Carly had acted nervous when he got there. 'Was that more then my imagination?'

He decided not to risk it and went back to Milltown. When he arrived there, Carly immediately came rushing out again, making him think Emily was there even more.

"You're back soon. Did you find her?" She asked him.

"You know very well I didn't find her Carly. Where is she?"

"I don't know what you mean" She tried to convince him, but she knew it didn't work when he gave her his detective gaze.

"She's inside with Sage" She sighed in defeat and he quickly went up to the house.

"Did you get rid of him again?" Emily asked when she heard the door open. She didn't even bother to look up who it was, because she was too busy changing Sage's diaper.

"No she didn't" Hal said, causing emily's head to shoot up. She finished changing Sage's diaper and got up with the little girl in her arms.

"Where's Carly?" She asked, looking extremely nervous.

"She's upstairs with Parker, I told her we needed some privacy"

"Oh" Was all she said, while Hal took Sage from her and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey beautiful, how you doing?" He smiled when Sage laughed and Emily couldn't hide the smile that crept up on her own face when she saw how adorable Hal was with the little girl.

"Why didn't you show up this morning" Hal asked, turning his attention to Emily.

She tried to think of an excuse and stammered a little, before finally telling him the truth.

"I don't deserve to spend time with you"

"What are you talking about? Ofcourse you do" Hal wasn't surprised at her admittance after his talk with Carly yesterday, but that didn't mean he agreed with it.

"No I don't, okay?! I deserve someone like Paul. Someone who never completely loves and respects me, someone who is in love with someone else and someone who doesn't make me happy. I don't deserve someone as wonderfull as you, who loves and respects me with all he has and who makes me utterly and completely happy"

She took a deep breath and went on before Hal could interupt her.

"There was a time when I thought I did deserve all of that and you, but I know better. I knew it when you found out about Chris and I really thought I had learned from that, almost losing you, but I did it to you again. I got together with Paul and I don't think I have ever seen you look as hurt as you did when I told you that I had slept with him"

She saw him close his eyes at the last sentence and knew she was right, she didn't deserve him.

When Hal finally spoke again, he didn't say what she expected.

"Are you done?" He asked, smiling at Sage who was half asleep in his arms.

All Emily could do was nod and Hal thought about his words carefully. He had to convince her that she was wrong, but he also had to make sure she didn't run away from him before he was done.

"You're right, you did hurt me. But..." He quickly continued when he saw her drop her head.

"But I love you. Do you hear me Emily? I love you, okay? Sure I was hurt when I found out about Chris and probably even more hurt when you told me about Paul, but that never stopped me from loving you. And don't you dare say you deserve someone like Paul, because that's not true!" He said, his voice rising.

"You made a mistake, we all make mistakes, but that doesn't mean we don't deserve to be happy. I wanna be happy and I got news for you, I need you in my life to do that"

When he saw the shocked look on her face he smiled.

"I knew that would get your attention. I need you in my life to be happy Emily and you know? I think you need me to be happy as well, am I right?"

She hesitated for a only a few seconds before shyly nodding her head.

Hal looked at Emily and then at the sleeping girl in his arms. He desperately wanted to take Emily in his arms, but that wasn't going to work with Sage asleep in them. He quickly called upstairs to Carly and handed Sage to her.

When Carly was back upstairs, Hal turned back to Emily and noticed that she had turned her back to him and was now facing the fireplace.

He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He felt her shiver and moved his hands up and down her arms.

"I need you" He whispered.

She turned around and when he saw the tears on her face, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her.

She stiffened for a few seconds, befor eh eflt her relax and snake her arms around his waist. She grabbed the back of his shirt and clung to him like her life depended on it.

Hal just stroked her hair and her back and kissed the top of her head. When she pulled back slightly, he whiped away the tears from her face and smiled.

Suddenly he noticed how close their faces were and his breathing deepened. He wanted nothing more then to kiss her right then and there, but he wanted Emily to take the initiative, so he waited.

He didn't have to wait long, because after only a few seconds, she linked her arms behind his head and pulled his mouth down to hers.

He put his arms around her waist and pulled her as close to him as possible, as to assure himself she wouldn't go anywhere.

She nibbled on his lower lip and he immediately opened his mouth, dueling his tongue with hers.

A moan escaped from the back of her throath and she moved one of her hands from the back of his head to the front of his shirt, toying with one of the buttons.

When he felt her trying to undo the button, he pulled back breathlessly.

"We can't do this here" He said, touching his forehead to hers.

She sighed in understanding and smiled at him. "I know, we have a room to decorate"

Hal laughed and pulled her to him in a hug again. "I missed you" He said and planted another soft kiss on her lips.

"I missed you too" She stepped away from him and walked to the stairs.

"I there someone upstairs who wants a new room" She asked, immediately followed by Parker bouncing down the stairs.

"Hey buddy, you ready to go?" He nodded furiously and grabbed his coat from the chair, putting it on.

"Ready" he proudly said and Hal, Carly and Emily all laughed.

Hal looked at Carly, who was holding a still sleeping Sage in her arms. He kissed the top of the little girls head and kissed Carly on the cheek.

"Thank you" he whispered and stepped back. He ruffled his sons hair and opened the door.

"Ready mrs. Munson?" He asked, smiling.

"Never been more ready" She said, having missed being called that.

She grabbed his hand and together they left to go home.

THE END


End file.
